Newbie Question re blurring

[*JP*]

Hello. This is my first post so please be gentle. I really am new to photography and whilst I've been 'pointing and shooting' for a long time, I've only just now taken the time toeven read my camera's manual properly.

I have a Kodak EasyShare M753, which as you will probably know is a pretty basic digicam. My plan is to completely master this, and once I have, then move on to better things.

I have an interest in portrait photography and the Mrs has been allowing me to practice on her a bit, but what I'd really like to do is blurr the back ground. Does anyone have any tips for taking portrait pics with this type of cam (it does have a portrait setting on it), is it even possible to blurr the background using this cam, and if so, how do I do it?

I have done a search for 'blurring' but didn't come up with anything. Perhaps it has a more technical name?

Many thanks in advance for any help.

 

[IgsEMT]

Hey Pal,
According to your manual KODAK EASYSHARE M853 / MD853 / M753 Digital Camera User's Guide you're pretty limited to what camera can do.

but what I'd really like to do is blurr the back ground.

this is called shallow depth of field - (what is depth of field?). The way it is achieved is by opening the aperture as wide as the lens allows and taking your portrait (actually it is a bit more to it.... ok it is much more to it, but that it the idea). In your case, you might try standing far enough from her, thus isolate her (focus wise) so foreground and background will be out of focus - but it might not work.
So, on friday, go get your self an SLR and LET PHOTO LESSONS begin

 

[ZBob]

With very small sensors (like your camera's), the DOF is huge, making it virtually impossible to blur the background properly.
One alternative is blurring the background on photoshop. It's quite simple:
Select the background and apply filter>blur>lens blur

 

[*JP*]

Thanks very much for the responses chaps. By SLR, do you mean (what I would know as) an old fashioned 35mm film camera? Sorry if I seem extremilly thick, but I'm afraid in respect of photography I am!

 

[ann]

SLR stands for single lens reflex camera and it is found on both film cameras and digital. with digital look for the term DSLR.

just an fyi, there are still "modern" SLR being made

 

[*JP*]

Thankyou Ann. Are there any recommended DSLR camera's for absolute beginners?

Many thanks

 

[Gaerek]

There are tons of DSLRs available for the beginner. It really depends on your budget, which system you want to buy into and a few other things. Off the top of my head, here are a few to look for:

Canon
Rebel T1i
Rebel XS
Rebel XSi

Nikon
d40
d3000
d5000

There are others out there also, but if you want to have the most options for lenses and accessories later, Canon or Nikon is the way to go. Just google each of those models and you can find out a lot of information on the price of each, as well as the features of each.

 

[*JP*]

Ouch! Bit pricey for me I'm afraid until I've learnt a lot more and am sure its something I'm going to be able to do. Many thanks though.